Multicriteria Evaluation of Portable Energy Storage Technologies for Electric Vehicles

The conventional vehicles are a major cause of the greenhouse gases emissions in the global environment. Electric vehicles are a sustainable alternative to the conventional vehicles due to the negligible emissions and the possibility of the renewable energy integration. However, the electric vehicles require the separate storage systems and the selection of the proper storage system is a major concern in the electric vehicles markets. The storage system should be selected in a systematic and rational way. Hence, this paper evaluates the existing storage technologies for electric vehicles based on a multi-criteria decision making model. For this purpose, this paper performs a comprehensive literature review of the existing storage technologies for electric vehicles. Then, this paper evaluates the key storage technologies for electric vehicles based on the five criteria including cost, technical features, compatibility, technological maturity, and environment, health, and safety. These criteria and their sub-criteria were used in the development of an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model. The proposed AHP model was solved using Super Decisions software. Results offer the various insights for the selection of a proper storage system for electric vehicles. In most of the cases, AHP model suggested the utilization of hybrid sodium-nickel chloride battery (SNCB) and supercapacitors (SC) for electric vehicles. Besides, the higher capital cost has been identified as the key barrier in the adoption several storage technologies such as lithium ion battery (LIB) and hydrogen fuel cells (HFC) storage.